Science Fiction - this theme splits people in two factions like no other genre does. There are those who love it and those who hate it. Among game developers the genre seems nevertheless to be quite popular since there is a huge amount of Sci-Fi games around. PC Games Hardware presents important Science Fiction games.

Science FictionMost people think, when they hear Science Fiction, of spaceships, infinite vastness and freaky technology. But Science Fiction in movies, games or art doesn't only cover space and starships but anything futuristic in general. As video games are concerned the genre can impress with big names like Star Trek or Star Wars but also Command & Conquer, Fallout, Mechwarrior, wing commander, X-Wing versus TIE-Fighter, X-Com or the Doom series.

Science Fiction: what does the term mean?Well, obviously the term Science Fiction is a combination of science and fiction. It became commonly used in the 1930s. Often games, movies or literature the plot of which takes place in the future are regarded to be Science Fiction. But this isn't always correct. For example: Many specialists say that Star Wars doesn't belong to Sci-Fi but, due to the fantastic touch of the saga, to the Science Fantasy genre. For game developers the Science Fiction theme is quite interesting of course, since story, characters, units or gameplay are not bound to fixed conditions. This allows the programmers to be creative and realize their fantasies.

That the theme is present in every game genre is emphasized by the multitude of titles that have been released. They cover almost any taste: Whether you prefer futuristic apocalyptical stories, space combat or just oddities like in C&C Red Alert 2 doesn't matter the Sci-Fi genre has it. PC games Hardware takes a tour through the history of Science Fiction game classics and presents titles that you should have heard about in your gaming career. Of course the selection is a matter of taste and makes no claim to be complete.

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